Lady Dogs knock off Tennessee

Posted: Thursday, January 21, 2010

By ROGER CLARKSON

Georgia and Tennessee played the kind of slow, grinding pace usually seen at the end of a tractor pull. But when the Lady Bulldogs felt the need for speed to make a game-winning pass for the lead, they rode a Porsha.

Porsha Phillips scored the last four points of the game the No. 8-ranked Lady Bulldogs rallied for a 53-50 win against No. 3-ranked Tennessee at Stegeman Coliseum on Thursday to take sole possession of first place by a half-game in the Southeastern Conference.

Georgia trailed 50-49 with 1:07 left after the Lady Volunteers' Alyssa Brewer hit a layup and free throw.

With 49 seconds left, Phillips found an open spot in the lane and Houts hit her for a layup to give Georgia a 51-50 lead.

"Ashley sees the floor very well and I didn't have any doubt that she was going to hit me," Phillips said. "I thought, 'I've got to make this layup.' I was a little nervous but I just put it in."

Before Tennessee could take a potential game-winning shot at the other end, Memphis native Jasmine James picked Angie Bjorklund's pocket and was fouled. James missed the front end of a one-and-one but Phillips rebounded, was fouled and hit two more free throws with 18 seconds left.

"We knew that they would try very hard to get the ball to Bjorklund and for her to try a three," James said. "I saw her coming my way and I was just there and able to get the steal."

The win by Georgia (18-1, 5-1 in the Southeastern Conference) broke the Lady Bulldogs' eight-game losing skid against the Lady Volunteers stretching back to the 2004 SEC Tournament semifinals. Georgia also had not beaten Tennessee in Stegeman Coliseum since 2000.

"It feels good definitely, to be able to beat them," James said. "But it feels better for our team to be No. 1 in the conference and be able to make a statement across the country that, hey, we are one of the best teams in the country."

The game was close throughout with 16 lead changes, 10 ties and neither team taking more than a four-point lead.

"It feels so good," Georgia wing Meredith Mitchell said. "They've got a great program with a lot of tradition. It's an incredible feeling to know you're part of a team that beat them. But we've got more games coming so we can't dwell on this much longer."

The Lady Bulldogs were led by Houts with 12 points, Mitchell with 11 and Phillips with 10. Glory Johnson led Tennessee with 14 and Kelley Cain added 10.

"There weren't any easy baskets scored," Georgia coach Andy Landers said. "The ones that were scored, were scored off of a spectacular effort somewhere else that set it up."

Georgia only hit 16 of 44 (36.4 percent, from the field. The Lady Bulldogs suffered through a six-minute scoring drought in the second half while working against Tennessee's zone.

"They are really big and we knew they were going to play a zone that's pretty wide and pretty still," Houts said. "It gave us some problems early. But as the game went on, moved the ball a lot quicker and kind of got some chippies and offensive boards that got us going."

Georgia's defense kept the score close enough for the Lady Bulldogs to finally start hitting buckets at the end.

James had had hit just one of her previous 11 field goal attempts and missed all seven of her 3-pointers before sinking from long distance to give Georgia a 49-47 lead with 1:33 left.

"My main thing was to knock the shot down and forget about all those misses before," James said. "I just wanted to get the ball and knock the shot down."

Georgia forced 23 turnovers by Tennessee and only allowed 2 of 9 shooting from the 3-point line. Georgia held Tennessee to 20 second-half points.

"Georgia kept their composure," Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. "I thought their inside game stepped up big. They shared the ball. They deserved to win. We brought some of those turnovers on ourselves, but Georgia played really strong defensively."

NOTEWORTHY: Mitchell hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first half to break an 0 of 19 drought. She had not hit a 3-pointer in Georgia's first four conference games until Thursday. ... Georgia's perimeter players Houts, James and Mitchell each played 40 minute. ... Landers only used two substitutes, forwards Anne Marie Armstrong (four minutes) and Jasmine Hassell (three minutes). ... Georgia out-shot Tennessee at the free throw line. Georgia hit 17 of 23 while the Lady Volunteers hit 6 of 7. ... Tennessee out-rebounded Georgia 37-23.